Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

As may be gleaned from some of the other reviews, Exit 14 is not fiction. Quite the opposite, it is the real-life story of the tragic deaths of my sister and brother. On December 27, 1967 my 14-year old sister, Betsy, was struck and killed by a car driven by a Derby football player while walking with friends after leaving a church dance in Derby. My brother, Peter, an Ansonia High School junior, was Betsy’s ride home and arrived late to pick her up. The guilt that my brother felt was crushing. A standout three-sport athlete, Peter was unable, both physically and mentally, to continue playing high school athletics. In January 1970, Peter took his own life in a cemetery in Derby, in the exact same horrifying manner as Daryl in Exit 14. I am the youngest brother of Betsy and Peter. I was born five months after Peter’s death. My next oldest brother, Doug, was only 5 when Peter died. My parents did everything they could to shield Doug and me from the horrific truth, telling us that Pete “got sick and passed away.” It was not until Doug and I were in our teens that we learned the true story. From that point onward it was difficult for me to not look at my parents and think about the unspeakable pain and sorrow that they had endured, but yet they always maintained a loving, happy home and gave their four surviving children the best, most normal childhood they possibly could. My parents’ inner strength and ability to carry on defied explanation. I am appalled and repulsed by Gary Scarpa’s adoption of my family’s tragic history as the underlying plot for Exit 14. Personally, I found one of the (many) offensive aspects of the book to be how he clearly urges the reader to associate him with Gabe DeMarco, who is desperately trying to help Daryl (my brother, Peter). As Mr. Scarpa has publicly acknowledged, he has “loosely based” Gabe upon himself. Gabe saves Daryl’s life once by pushing him out of the way of an oncoming train, but ultimately can’t save him in the end. Gabe DeMarco (or Gary Scarpa) the almost, would-be hero. In essence, Mr. Scarpa has shamelessly placed himself at the center of my family’s real-life nightmare. I can’t decide whether it’s just incredibly poor judgment or extreme hubris.